If you’re like us, you’ll be glued to your screens watching the Winter Olympics for the next two weeks, as the world’s best alpine athletes take over the nation’s sporting zeitgeist.
With several Virginians heading to Northern Italy to vie for medals, we think this is the perfect chance to look at some of the notable River City athletes who made names for themselves on the world’s biggest stage.
Bill Agee
William Agee was born in Richmond on Christmas Day, 1905. In 1928, at the age of 22, Agee won the US Marathon trials in Baltimore, and finished No. 44 in the Amsterdam games later that year.
Forbes Norris
Forbes Holden Norris Jr. took sixth in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1948 London Olympic Games. The 20-year-old Norris, then in his third year at Harvard, was born and raised in Richmond.
Rada Owen
Rada Owen, who finished No. 16 in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, is a graduate of Manchester High School. Fun fact: Owen was officially commended by the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates in a 2001 joint resolution.
Kellie Wells Brinkley
A star sprinter at both James River High School and Hampton University, Kellie Wells Brinkley took home a bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics.
Carmen Farmer
Carmen Farmer grew up in Richmond and graduated from Varina High School in 1999. Farmer was Virginia Tech softball’s starting shortstop from 2000-2003, but it was Rugby — which she picked up for fun at age 31 while working as a lawyer — that brought her to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Hermitage HS grad and two-time olympian Queen (Harrison) Claye still competes at an international level.
Photo by jenaragon94
Queen Claye
Claye, a Hermitage High School grad, was the youngest member of USA Track and Field’s team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Then a sophomore at Virginia Tech, Claye competed in the 400-meter hurdles, making her the first female VT athlete to make the Olympics.
Claye also competed in the 2012 games, making her this list’s most recurring Olympian. Despite narrowly missing a spot on the Rio Olympic team, she still made headlines in 2016 when her then-boyfriend Will Claye proposed in the stands of the Olympic Stadium in Rio mere moments after winning a silver medal in the triple jump.
Both Clayes competed in the 2024 Olympic trials in June, and Queen now returns to Hermitage every year to host the “Queen Track Classic.”
Townley Haas
Henrico native and former Benedictine College Prep standout Townley Haas has the honor of being the only gold medalist on this list. A 19-year-old Haas swam the second leg for the USA’s 2016 4×200 meter team, splitting 1:44.14 (then the sixth-fastest in history) and helping propel the team to victory.
